Goodreads Giveaways - Goodbye Days and Son of a Trickster

Hello again! I have been tardy with my reviews recently. But, I do have two new ones here today. The first is Goodbye Days by Jeff Zenter and the second is Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson. Both feature teenage guys stuck in tough situations and emotionally powerful writing by the authors.

Goodbye Days is a serious look by the author, Jeff Zentnor, at a common issue that has been gaining prominence over the years – texting and driving. In this story, he looks at the worst possible outcome for those who text and drive, from the viewpoint of a teenaged boy, Carver Briggs, whose entire group of friends dies in a car accident after he texts them. Further complicating this emotional devastation are the many ways that those who loved the lost handle their grief. One of the parents uses his pull to spark an investigation into Carver in the hopes that this will result in criminal charges. Ultimately the book focuses on the power of friendship and the transformative nature of loss, whether for good or bad.

As far as what I liked and didn’t like, I’m not going to lie, I read this a month ago so my memory for all the details is a bit hazy. Because of this, I’m going to focus more on broad points here. Goodbye Days packs emotional punch. If you’ve lost a friend in childhood, teenage or early adult years, it may hit you harder than later losses but you’re still probably going to feel it. Zentner takes the reader through the stages of grief and, man, did I cry reading it!

I liked the non-chronological order of the story – the reader pops back and forth from the present loss and memories of happier days – how the boys first met and the things they did together that bonded them. They felt like real people, complex with imperfect lives. For all that this book is about loss and grief, there were still some humourous punches throughout – the dialogue flowed and was snappy. As I read along I could smile about the shenanigans the boys got into with each other. The humour was more poignant, though, through the knowledge of their later deaths.

As for what I didn’t like, I kept stumbling over the plot complication of the investigation into Carver. It just felt like a bit of a reach to me. I read recently about a young woman who has been convicted for her participation in egging on a boyfriend to kill himself via text message. I suppose that real-life situation makes the plot complication seem a bit more possible, but I still feel that it would be a reach to charge someone for texting another person while they’re driving. This wasn’t an issue that kept me from finishing the book, I just found it jarring each time it came up.

The last beef I have is that I don’t feel hat Carver’s relationship issues with his parents were fully concluded and resolved, not after how they were referenced throughout the story. They were given quite a lot of page time for something that wasn’t fully explained and never outright concluded, so it felt a bit contrived each time it popped up.

All in all, I enjoyed this read (tears and all) and give it four stars. It had good flow and gripping emotional power. The characters were sympathetic and well rounded and the topic is a timely one.

Son of a Trickster blew my socks off. No, really, I loved it. It was fantastic. As soon as I finished it, I had to go look up whether there would be more books – I’m hoping they’ll be out quick! I can’t wait to read the next books in the series!

Okay, enough gushing. 😊

Son of a Trickster is the story of a high school kid, Jared and the complex web of family and community ties that surround him. Jared slowly suffocates on the reality of his life, a broken-up family scarred by addictions, violence and unrelenting poverty. Despite this, he’s one determined teen, single-mindedly trying to keep everyone together, safe and housed. Enter into this mix his increasing drug and alcohol use and the curious happenings that start coming faster and faster: strange coincidences, voices and beings begin to crowd his life and he suddenly has more on his hands than he knows what to do with.

This book is fabulously current; it’s set on the West Coast of Canada and references the intergenerational impacts of the Residential Schools and the Idle No More movement, among other things. The references weren’t in your face, but when you start peeling back the surface, they’re there, built in and interwoven through the story in a way that truly isn’t about preaching. The book feels real.

At the same time, this is a harsh read. For all the love he has for his mother and father, Jared’s parents continuously disappoint as parental figures. His mother has these adorable moments of connection, affection and love with Jared while also featuring homicidal tendencies and an urge for revenge. For all her seeming strength through violence, she’s, at heart, a vulnerable woman broken down by disappointments by those she loved most.

Jared was a sympathetic character for me. His struggles, while specific to his heritage as an Indigenous person, also felt applicable to a wider audience. He’s exploring sexuality with quirky, smart and vulnerable Sarah, while also getting drawn deeper and deeper into the hole of alcohol and substance use. For all that, he feels deeply about those around him and constantly tries to take care of them: the little old couple next door whom he cares for and who, in return, provide some of the only stability in his life; his mother who by turns is suffocating and violent in her love; and his father, who he remembers as a stronger person than he is pictured now in the story.

In terms of the magical realism component, this started off much more subtly than I expected and really didn’t make a strong appearance until the latter part of the story. That’s fine, though; Jared’s life is attention grabbing enough as it is. When the magic does make its appearance, there was a strange tension between my expectation of the cultural roots that would make it up and a strange focus on quantum physics to ‘explain’ the source of the magic. I like the author’s convention for these explanations. They start as narrated excerpts interspersed throughout the early part of the novel and then take physical form in the novel as science-spouting ‘fireflies’. It reads better than I can explain it, promise.

This is not a lighthearted read, but for all that, I didn’t find it depressing. Self-harm, drug abuse, alcohol addiction, criminal activity, grinding poverty, trauma and loss are all featured. Despite this, the book glows with connections. Connections between Jared and his imperfect family members. Connections Jared has forged with peers at school. And even the sweet connections he has with his next-door neighbours.

All in all, I give this read five stars. I’m eagerly awaiting the next installment!

#Review #ARC #Canadian #Indigenous #ownvoices #teenagers #grief #loss #magicalrealism